As with the Buck gig, there was a fairly sparse crowd for The Negro Problem's show at Club Mesa. I think most concerts this October 2nd probably had a thin audience, as there were so many good shows. In addition to the two that I went to, others I wanted to see included Elvis Costello, John Doe, The Andersons, The Ziggens, and Squeeze, and those were just the cream of the crop!

Despite the small crowd, they sold a bunch of products, particularly the new T-Shirt (of which I purchased the first one. :-). As usual, Stew and Charles were particularly chatty and amusing, with Heidi occasionally jumping in with a wry comment or two. Stew confessed that he has a duck fetish, thus showing that even in bands coming from Silverlake, TNP continues to be the trend setters. Soon every head shop in Hollywood will be selling lifelike inflatable duck replicas with natural-feel bills for your pleasure.

A couple of times that I've seen TNP, Stew either hasn't been able to find his capo, or has had a capo that didn't work. Anticipating the problem, I came armed with my capo. When it got to the part where he said he was going to run out to his car and find his capo, I walked up and handed him one, much to the amazement of the band and bemusement of some of the audience. If you come to the gig at Spaceland next week, I'll let you see and perhaps even touch the capo that Stew used. :-)

One last ramble before I get to the pictures (hey, if they can be chatty, so can I, so there!). I asked Stew about a lyric that has been bugging the hell out of me for weeks, so here it is:

She's in nostalgia's grip. Twenty years shy of hip. Gonna be the final time you listen to the vinyl and go off on how the president's gypped.

The mystery is solved! Enjoy the pix -